A Classic Backfire
by LAWchan89
Summary: When they discover the entire Academy has been betting money on when they're going to hook up, Soul and Maka decide to give them EXACTLY what they want.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: A new canon-esque idea I got, presented to you in three parts! I hope you enjoy this one, 'cause I sure enjoyed coming up with the idea for it.

I still don't own Soul Eater-or else I probably would have written an arc like this.

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><p>"Professor Sid? I'm done with my exam."<p>

"So read a book 'til everyone's done, Maka," their now undead teacher replied, not even bothering to look up from his work—he knew instantly which of his students could finish an essay exam in a record twenty minutes.

Maka quietly made her way down the aisle between the desks of Crescent Moon classroom to hand in her test, so as not to disturb anyone else still working. She smirked as she passed by Ox Ford's desk and saw out the corner of her eye that he was only halfway done. Once she had handed Sid her paper, she turned and walked back up the stairway to her desk. So anxious was she to get back to her desk and pick up her latest mystery novel where she left off that she barely noticed she had tripped and was about to fall face first onto the hardwood floor. Luckily, a rough yet warm hand reached out from the aisle desk and caught hers before she fell very far.

"Take it easy," whispered a chuckling voice, and Maka glanced up at her partner Soul before giving him a slight smile.

"Thanks for that," she hissed back, straightening herself up and slithering behind his chair to sit at her desk beside him. Soul, in a strange act of kindness, pulled out her chair for her just before she sat down. Though she appreciated the gesture, Maka swatted his hand away in annoyance. "Get back to work," she mouthed, once she looked down at his paper and saw that Soul still had a ways to go before he finished.

She had sat back down and reached into her leather bag to pull out her book when she heard a soft giggle behind her. _Well, I guess I __did__ look pretty silly, _Maka thought, her cheeks reddening slightly.

"Oh my God, she's _blushing_," came a whisper from the giggler. Maka slumped down in her seat and hid her face behind her paperback novel. _Okay seriously, it wasn't __that__ big a deal. _Just because she was one of the top meisters at the Academy didn't necessarily mean she was graceful. She'd goofed up on assignments dozens of times simply from tripping over her own feet or slipping in the mud. She tried to ignore it by immersing herself in the escapades of the fiery gorgeous redhead in her favorite mystery series. The uptight, pigtailed meister only looked up a few minutes later to hear the tail end of what the girl behind her said: "…another week."

Recognizing Liz's voice immediately, Maka whipped around just in time to see the brown-haired pistol withdraw her hand away from Black Star and the blue-haired assassin slip something green into his pocket. Something that looked suspiciously like money…

_What the hell…?_ Everyone knew better than to loan Black Star money because he _never _paid them back—even Tsubaki finally drew the line. Did Liz forget? Maka would have to hunt Black Star down later and demand that he give Liz back her cash. She turned around to give Liz a quizzical look, but the older girl was looking back down at her exam, twirling a strand of silky, lustrous brown hair between her fingers. Black Star grinned widely as he sat back in his seat, ignoring the test paper on his desk, and Maka gave him a hard glare before turning back to her book. It was a moment before she realized Soul was gone from his desk, and Maka looked around in alarm before she saw him down at Sid's desk handing him his exam. She blinked a few times, knowing she had to be dreaming. Soul always took the entire period to take an exam, now here he was done with fifteen minutes to spare? Yes, she literally pinched herself to make sure just as Soul slid back into his seat next to her.

"What?" he whispered amused at the look on her face. "It was a piece of cake."

Maka narrowed her eyes at him; it was _not _a piece of cake, even she had to admit it. But…well, maybe it was. The weapons were always given different exams that the meisters with different questions, so maybe theirs _had _been easier. Or maybe Soul had actually studied…or maybe pigs were soaring outside their window right now. Maka sighed and shook her head, _Wishful thinking…_

The bell rang some time later, and everyone pushed their way out the door, grumbling about the exam—Maka could have sworn she heard Ox sneer her name to Harvar as she brushed past them. But she had her eye on a blue-haired boy zooming ahead of everyone else as she rushed to keep up with him, Soul panting behind her.

"Black Star!" she called, finally freeing herself from the crowd to catch up. "Wait up a sec!"

"No Maka, I didn't cheat this time," Black Star rolled his eyes, pointing accusingly at her. "You always gotta be a _nag _don't you?"

"He really didn't Maka, I was watching him carefully," Tsubaki said, striding up beside him.

"I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about the money you took from Liz," Maka clarified just as Soul finally caught up with her.

"Uh oh…you saw that?" Black Star asked sheepishly, his eyes widening.

"Liz lent you money?" Soul snickered. "Geez, even _I _know better than that."

"Hand it over," Maka said curtly, holding out her hand palm open.

"She wasn't lending me money, she—she—she _owed _me money!" Black Star shouted at last. "Yeah, that's it!"

"Nice try, but Liz lives in a mansion with a filthy rich Grim Reaper who can lend her money anytime she needs it," Soul smirked, folding his arms across his chest. "C'mon dude, just give it up."

"Hell no!" Black Star screamed, holding onto his pockets protectively.

"Black Star, maybe we should just tell them—" Tsubaki began tentatively.

"Tell who what?" came a voice and the four of them whirled around to see Death the Kid approaching with the Thompson sisters in tow.

"Liz, did you or did you not slip Black Star a five during class just now?" Maka asked the older girl beside Kid.

"Yeah I was…paying him back," Liz said in a suspiciously slow manner, and Maka and Soul eyed her for a moment before asking at the same time, "_What is going on here?_"

"Don't tell them, it'll ruin everything!" Kid burst out, before clapping both hands to his mouth.

"Yeah, I've been winning the bet f—!"

"Patti, _shut up_," Liz sang between clenched teeth, firmly covering her little sister's mouth.

"Fine, if it'll make Maka happy, here Liz," Black Star said defeated, reaching in his pocket—only to have several other folded up bills fall out of his pocket as he withdrew it. "Shit!"

"Black Star what are you doing with all this?" Maka cried out.

"No don't—!" Black Star shouted, but too late as Maka and Soul both reached down to look at the five, ten, twenty, and even fifty dollar bills on the ground. Each had a sticky note attached to it: one said _Ox, Two weeks_. Another said _Kid, Spring Break. _A third said _Kilik, Push me back to Summer Vacation_.

"What's with the notes?" Soul asked in a mildly curious tone, as Black Star made a desperate grab for the money on the ground and ripped the bills from Maka and Soul's hands before shoving them back in his pocket protectively. "Dude, if I didn't know better I'd say you were gambling…"

"Well, you could say that," Tsubaki mumbled with a nervous laugh.

"Don't you _dare_, Tsubaki!" Black Star ordered his weapon.

"I…think we'd better go," Kid said nervously, and he and the girls sped off down the hall before Maka could stop them. She whirled around and glanced at Tsubaki, who seemed to be teetering on the brink of revealing something. Something _huge_.

"Tsubaki, you're my best girl friend and I know you would never lie to me," Maka said as sweetly as she could.

"Tsubaki, you're my partner and I know you would never betray a big star like me!" Black Star shouted in a warning tone.

"Uh…I…ohh…" Maka almost felt bad for the poor shadow weapon, twisting her hands nervously in front of her.

"Don't pressure her Maka, she'll tell us _any second now_," Soul grinned.

"Alright, Black Star _is _taking bets!" Tsubaki burst out, burying her face in her hands. "I told him it was a terrible idea from the start, but he wouldn't listen!"

"What exactly are you taking bets on?" Maka shouted to the blue-haired meister who glared back at her.

"And how come _we _didn't know about it?" Soul yelled, indicating himself and Maka. "I wanna bet! What are we betting on?"

"Soul, that's beside the _point_!" Maka turned on her weapon. "I'm doing the interrogating here!"

"I want in on what everyone else is betting on!" Soul exclaimed.

"Shut up, you're no help!"

"Go die!"

"Lazy-ass!"

"Tiny tits!"

"_CHOP!_"

A few passersby laughed as Soul crumpled to the floor, the spine of a hardcover book meeting his skull in the most violent way possible. Maka stuffed her book out of sight just as she saw Jackie wink at Black Star. She whipped around just in time to see Black Star write something down on a slip of paper.

"What is that?" Maka snapped.

"Nothing," Black Star said quickly, shoving the paper in his pocket.

"What _are _you betting on?" Maka asked, taking a few steps closer to him.

"The great Black Star's Godlike lips are sealed!"

"But Tsubaki's aren't," Maka grinned, her gaze moving to his fidgety weapon.

"No way!" Black Star yelled. "She told you everything, I'm just taking bets! She never said anything about me taking bets on when you two are gonna get together!"

He said the words so fast that Maka almost missed them—but unfortunately for Black Star, she didn't. "You're taking bets on _what?"_

"When you and Soul are going to…you know…" Tsubaki said as Black Star banged his head against the wall at his own stupidity.

"Get jiggy with it?" Soul finally spoke, getting up from the ground with a glare that matched his meister's. "Number one, it ain't happening. And number two—"

"That has got to be the most disgusting thing I have ever _heard_!" Maka screamed, startling several people around them. "Is that any way to treat your best friends? Gambling on their feelings for eachother?"

"I'm so sorry Maka, I told him it was horrible but you know how he is," Tsubaki said with a low bow.

"And how much money have _you _put down, _Tsubaki_?" Maka growled.

"T-t-twenty dollars on this summer," the shadow weapon replied in a defeated voice.

"Who's all in on this?" Soul asked angrily.

"The entire Academy," Black Star answered without shame, folding his arms proudly across his chest.

"_Everyone_?' Maka yelled "Even—?"

"Hey Black Star," Professor Stein said, poking his head out of his office door. "I heard them yelling earlier so push me back a couple of w—_oops_." He ducked his head back inside when he saw Maka staring open-mouthed at him in utter shock.

"_The faculty?" _Maka screamed so shrilly, bats could have heard her.

"Yep, Lord Death's my best customer," Black Star stated. "Keeps betting on the next day—obviously he loses a lot, but he says he's got to win eventually."

"I can't believe this," Soul breathed, shaking his head at Maka who looked like she wanted to positively kill Black Star.

"We're…we're….the _laughing stock of the entire school!_" Maka yelled, her voice breaking as the final bell rang. "C'mon Soul, let's go home."

"Right behind you," Soul snarled, following Maka to the front door of the Academy—but not before flipping his middle finger at Black Star, who stood laughing as he counted the day's profit

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><p>"I hate them. I hate every single <em>one <em>of them!"

"Oh please, you do not."

"Yes I do, Soul! What they've been doing is just plain cruel!" Maka flung her schoolbooks one by one onto the floor later that afternoon once she and Soul got home, Blair watching them from the kitchen doorway. "Aren't you the least bit upset about this?"

"Course I am, but I don't hate them all," Soul replied, "I just wanna _kill _them."

"I have never _ever _been so mad at Black Star in my entire life!" Maka shouted, yanking on her pigtails in frustration. "And for the others to have the _gall _to go along with it? We're not a couple of celebrities they've never met before, we're their _best friends!_ How could they toy with us and how we feel about eachother? It's sickening!"

"I think it's hilarious," Blair chimed in, crawling towards Maka with a little laugh.

"It's anything _but_—"

"Oh Maka, don't take it so seriously," Blair scoffed, shifting back into her human form with a puff of purple smoke. "It's just a silly little game, we don't really—_oops!_"

"You, too?" Maka and Soul yelled together.

"Blair, how long has this been going on?" Soul asked while Maka struggled with herself to stay calm.

"Well, remember back when Maka's parents finalized the divorce?" Blair began timidly.

"Yeah."

"And Maka went to school crying the next day?"

"Yeah."

"And you gave her a hug and told her everything would be alright?"

"Y—oh _shit_," Soul groaned, finally putting the pieces together.

"Somewhere around there," Blair finished.

"I'm gonna call up Black Star and give him hell," Soul growled, stomping over towards the phone, but Maka blocked his path.

"No Soul, he won't stop even if you tell him to," she said truthfully, and Soul slumped his shoulders in defeat. "But you're right; we _do _need to do something about this."

"We're never getting together and giving them the satisfaction, that's for sure," Soul snapped.

"Got that right," Maka forced a smile in agreement—inside however, a tiny portion of her heart was breaking; that tiny portion that thought just maybe, somewhere down the line, they had a shot. Now this had ruined everything she had hoped for, and it only fueled raging fire within her. "We've gotta make this good."

"Let's go toilet paper his apartment," Soul suggested.

"Oh _that's _mature," Maka rolled her eyes. "How about a strongly-worded mass email of complaint?"

"That people can easily delete and not read?" Soul countered.

"Fine, you come up with something, I'm done!" Maka yelled, plopping on the couch and burying her face in her hands.

"Why don't you guys just…give them what they want?" Blair said slowly, a sly cat-like smile on her face. Maka raised her head and Soul turned to look at the vivacious feline.

"Wait…you don't mean…" Soul began, shaking his head.

"…put on an act?" Maka finished, sitting up straighter. "_Pretend_ we're a couple?"

"Exactly," Blair said, clapping her hands together triumphantly.

"Forget it," Soul drawled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"That's the last thing we want to do!" Maka said angrily. "We'll never hear the end of it if we just…give in!"

"No, you will Maka, don't you see?" Blair said, excited at her newly formed plan. "Once you guys 'hook up officially,' all bets are off. Then once you're together awhile, people will get bored, the hubbub will die down, and you're off the hook again—free to go back to the way things were."

Maka thought about this for a minute, biting her lower lip while Soul rolled his eyes and glanced out the window at the dozing setting sun. "I never thought I'd say this…but…Blair just might be right."

"Maka we can't," Soul whipped around to look at her, "I mean, we literally can't."

"What, would it be so hard to pretend that I'm your girlfriend?" Maka retorted, standing up from the couch to face him nose to nose. Soul had to admit, she did smell good being this close to him. "A girl like me isn't good enough for a cool guy like you?" _Dammit, don't get all emotional,_ she told herself in a scolding tone, _it's just an act._

"Hey, I never said that," Soul said defensively, holding up his hands and backing away from her. "I'm just not sure I can keep this up very long."

"How long do you think it'll take for the hubbub to die down Blair?" Maka asked.

"I dunno, a month maybe?"

"_A month?_" they shouted simultaneously.

"Give or take a week," Blair added.

"There's no way we can keep this going believably for a _month_," Soul said as Maka shook her head in agreement.

"Sure you can, you just need to plan it out," Blair replied. She leapt up from the couch and pranced over to the desk in the corner, where she found a pad of paper and a pen. "Now, let's start writing down all the details: how you guys got together, where you go on dates, your summer plans, what ticks the other one off—"

"Ha! I don't have to pretend to be Maka's boyfriend to know what ticks her off," Soul laughed before feelings Maka swat his arm hard with a notebook.

"You've been living together for almost a year now, so you guys already have a head start," Blair pointed out, and the meister and weapon pair glanced at eachother out the corner of their eyes. "C'mon, it might actually be fun."

"Well…it will get all those annoying girls off my back," Soul admitted.

"Alright, let's do this," Maka said determinedly.

"Yay!" Blair cheered, clicking open the pen. "So, let's begin."

For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, the three of them laid down the ground plan for their great charade. It took hours before both Soul and Maka could completely agree with everything on the list that framed their fake relationship: Maka refused to say they played video games together ("I _hate _those gory war games!") while Soul complained about spending inordinate amounts of money on her ("Cool guys don't do that crap.") Around ten o'clock that night, they were pretty solid on at least getting through the next day when they were bombarded with questions by pretty much the entire school.

"Let's turn in, we've got a big day tomorrow," Maka finally said, suppressing a small smile at the elaborateness of their hoax. Blair was right, it _was_ almost fun.

"I can't wait to see Black Star's face," Soul grinned, throwing an arm around Maka's shoulders. "Oh yeah, we're a couple now." He leaned closer and quickly pecked her on the cheek, "'Night pumpkin."

Maka laughed out loud at Soul's uncharacteristic display, "Goodnight, honey," she trilled back with a giggle as they parted ways to their own bedrooms. As Maka stood in front of her mirror and unraveled her pigtails, brushing out her straight blonde locks, her fingers moved involuntarily to the spot on her cheek where Soul had kissed her. She liked having his face so close to hers…and she _liked_ how soft his lips felt when they brushed against her skin…

_Cut it out! _Maka yelled inside her head, shaking away those strange and unnerving thoughts. _It's not real. He's just pretending he likes to kiss you, __that's it__._ Throwing her brush aside, she flung open the covers on her bed and climbed inside, snuggling down against her pillow.

_Don't be like Mama, _she thought desperately as she dozed off. _Don't let your stupid heart override your head…_

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><p>AN: So how will all of this turn out? I don't think it takes a genius to figure it out :) Please leave a review on your way out!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow, I am FLOORED by the huge response Chapter 1 got, thanks guys! As you can imagine, I'm really feeling the pressure now to make this good. So here's Chapter 2, and I hope you guys enjoy it :)

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><p>"Okay, you ready for this?"<p>

"No."

"What the hell do you mean 'no'?"

"I changed my mind, I can't do this!"

Soul exhaled slowly as he stood with his meister outside the doors of the Academy. Only a few people were wandering around outside, the rest were getting ready for classes inside, giving them ample opportunity to prepare for the day ahead. So far everything was going smoothly: first thing that morning, Soul and Maka had both changed their Deathbook statuses from "It's Complicated" to "In a Relationship", had both gone over everything on the list they'd made up with Blair the night before, and now were about to make their entrance into the Academy, hand in hand and looking like the happiest people on earth. _Perfect time for Maka to get cold feet,_ Soul thought as he grabbed her around the waist to prevent her from running in the opposite direction.

"Soul—!"

"Maka, I'm right here," Soul said in a deep, assuring voice that seemed to immediately calm her racing heart. "C'mon, let's go show everyone in there that the joke's on _them_."

Maka turned around to face him and laced her fingers through his, "Alright…whatever you say, sweetie."

"That's the spirit, babe," Soul smirked. "Now, once we get inside—"

"We act like we don't notice anyone looking at us," Maka went over in her mind as they neared the front door, "I give you my books to carry and you say, 'You look cold, Maka' and put your leather jacket around me."

"I give you a kiss on the cheek and we head into Stein's class, where we're home free 'til lunch," Soul finished. "Anyone asks, we just play it cool—actually you could act a little embarrassed, it's kinda cute."

"Shut up," Maka swatted him on the arm as Soul pushed open the front door. As predicted, the first one to spot them was Liz, probably having checked their statuses earlier, but now having a silent screaming fit with her hands over her mouth, nudging Patti with her elbow as Maka grinned at them, giving Soul's hand a squeeze as they passed. Soul kept his eye out for Black Star, ready to rub it in the obnoxious assassin's face the minute he found him, but he did pass Kilik and Ox on their way in, smirking at them as Ox whooped and Kilik yelled "Get it, Soul-man!"

"Hey Maka, you cold?" Soul asked kindly as they stopped near Kim and Jackie, who were both gaping at them.

"A little," Maka nodded coyly, attempting the bashful attitude Soul suggested. He set down her books and stripped off his black leather jacket, laying it on Maka's shoulders. She smiled, "_Much_ better."

"What the _hell?_" came a loud cry from across the hall. Soul turned to see Black Star standing with a grinning Tsubaki, his mouth hanging to the floor with money in one hand and his pad of paper in the other. Placing his arm around Maka's waist, he pulled her against his side and walked her over to where the uncharacteristically speechless ninja stood.

"Looks like you're not gonna need _those_ anymore," Soul smirked down at his betting provisions.

"You're just doing this to get back at me, aren't you?" Black Star sneered, and Soul's insides froze: Were they that obvious?

"No, Black Star, we're not." _Thank you, Maka! _"If anything, we should be thanking you," she smiled, leaning her head on Soul's shoulder. "You see, we were really angry at first—"

"—about the whole playing with our feelings thing," Soul added, picking up on Maka's prompt of their rehearsed story, "but afterward we thought, 'Maybe he's not picking on us…maybe he's trying to send us a sign.'"

"A sign from _God_," Maka flourished, and Black Star puffed his chest up proudly. "Soul and I _have _been partners for a long time, plus we've been living together, so I took a chance—"

"—and _I _told her that I wanted to take the next step!" Soul interrupted hastily, giving Maka a look, "_Remember?_"

"Oh yeah!" Maka slapped her head at her own stupidity while mentally kicking herself for forgetting such an important detail, "It _was_ you, 'cause—well, I was too shy."

"You still look kinda shy," Soul teased, nudging his nose against her cheek. "I've never seen you like this before, Maka."

"Well, I—I've never felt this way before," Maka improvised, moving her face away from Soul's touch. "It's still so new to me."

"'Aw don't worry, I'll help you adjust," Soul crooned in her ear, sneaking a peek at Black Star who still hadn't picked his jaw up from the floor.

"Well, Black Star and I will leave you two alone then," Tsubaki giggled.

"What? No we won't, they're ruining my busine—!"

"_Now, Black Star!_" Tsubaki yelled, grabbing him tightly by the arm and dragging him away while he screamed things like "They did this on purpose!" and "Everyone in this school's gonna kill me!"

"Laying it on a little thick, aren't you?" Maka hissed out the corner of her mouth as they walked towards Stein's class, smiling at people as they "aww'd" in their direction.

"It's Black Star, I had to put on a show for _him_," Soul hissed back, crushing her closer to his hip.

"Oh I think you were going for an award with that little display," Maka countered, an artificial grin plastered on her face. "We keep going like that, and no one with half a brain cell is going to believe us!"

"Okay, okay I'll back off," Soul rolled his eyes, pulling her into a corner so they could talk privately, "just so long as _you _start getting our stories straight."

"I'm sorry, it was an accident," Maka said honestly, recalling her slip-up on who had confessed to whom. "I got it now: _You _made the first move."

"Got that right," Soul said just as the first bell rang. "Alright, we got class now so we can take a break for a bit. We'll pick this up again in the cafeteria."

"Right," Maka nodded, shifting closer Soul as people pushed past them to get into class. "Sit by me?" she asked a bit louder so they could hear her.

"Don't I always?" Soul answered just as syrupy sweet. Planting a soft kiss on her cheek, they strolled hand in hand through the doorway of Stein's classroom, the professor eyeing them curiously as they walked to their desks.

"I have you tests graded," Stein said after letting his eyes linger on Soul and Maka for a moment, while Maka straightened herself up into school mode. "Weapons overall did pretty well. Meisters—" The professor slapped down a paper marked up in red in front of Black Star "—may need to read over the material more closely. Or just _read it, period_." Black Star scoffed and tossed the paper over his shoulder while Tsubaki covered her eyes with her hand and moaned. Maka sat jiggling her legs nervously until Stein set down her paper with a bright red A-minus across the top.

"Hey, nice goin'," Soul nudged her, and Maka nodded as she looked over her work. It was a good grade, but something about that minus sign next to the "A" always bothered her. She'd have to try harder next time. What was even weirder, however, was Soul _complimenting _her on her grade. Usually he just made a jab at what a boring bookworm she was, but now he—oh right, they were supposed to be acting like a couple now. Soul squeezed her hand under the desk, so as to give the students sitting behind them some eye candy, just as Stein set his own paper down in front of him.

"Well, what'dya know about that?" Maka looked up at Soul's unnaturally happy tone and saw to her utter surprise that he'd earned a B-plus.

"Soul!" she exclaimed, grabbing the paper from him. "You—this is your—?"

"Told you it was a piece of cake," Soul said as his dumbfounded meister looked over his work—his thorough, neatly organized work.

"You really _did _study," Maka breathed, her green eyes sparkling, "I'm so proud of you, Soul!" It happened before she could even think to stop herself—she grabbed his face and kissed him on the cheek. _Shit__, that was loud, _she thought, looking to see that every person in the class had their eyes on them; some giggling, some sighing at Maka's kiss—then there was Black Star, who tore his entire record-keeping notepad in half.

"Ew, that was a wet one," Soul hissed to her, wiping her kiss off with his shirt sleeve.

"I—I'm sorry," Maka whispered back, slumping down in her seat as she mindlessly took notes for the rest of the lecture. _Where the hell did that come from?_

* * *

><p>"So…" drawled a voice behind Maka once the class had been dismissed and she made a break for the girls' bathroom. Little did she know that she could not escape the hounding of her fellow female classmates in there, much less the gossipy Thompson sisters themselves. "When did it happen?"<p>

"Last night," Maka smiled, turning away from the sink to face Liz and Patti hovering over her like two vultures converging on their prey. "Aren't you two more upset that you lost your bets?"

"Oh but it's _so _much more satisfying to know we were right all along and you two _are _crazy for eachother," Liz chuckled. "Besides it wasn't really our money, it was Kid's—he's harassing Black Star for his cash right now."

"Thought so," Maka grinned. "Now excuse me, I have to—"

"Oh no, you have plenty of time before lunch and you are _not_—"the taller pistol shoved Maka onto the bathroom couch "—spending today in the library. We want details."

"Such as?"

"Have you two kissed yet?" Patti asked eagerly.

"That's none of your business!" Maka exclaimed.

* * *

><p>"Dude, we <em>just <em>hooked up last night," Soul said to Kid as they headed towards the cafeteria, where the Death Scythe noticed he was _still_ carrying Maka's heavy books and set them down on a table.

"Fair enough," Kid answered. "I just figured since you'd been dying to confess your feelings to her for so long, your—ahem—emotions might have gotten the better of you?"

"I didn't say that they didn't," Soul smirked, glancing over Kid's shoulder at Black Star who was warding off a very disgruntled Kim before catching up breathlessly with them. "C'mon dude, you're missing all the juicy details!"

"Man, you and Maka ruined everything, Soul!" Black Star complained. "Everyone's pissed at _me _'cause they kept pushing their bets back, so pretty much everybody lost!"

"Really?" Kid asked as Soul plastered a satisfied smirk on his face, "Nobody won?"

"Almost everyone bet between spring break and—well—'never'" Black Star explained, slumping his shoulders while the usual swagger in his step was lacking. "Did _anybody _win?"

"Black Star!" Sid called from across the hall, "Lord Death sent me with a message: _Pay up_!"

"Aw, dammit!" Black Star raged, pounding towards the Death Room screaming profanities while Soul and Kid howled with laughter.

"So you're not pissed about losing the bet?" Soul asked, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes as Kid tried to regain breathing control again.

"My happiness at you and Maka being happy overrides any harsh feelings about the money," Kid replied, arranging the food on his tray in a perfectly symmetrical order. "I must admit that I myself harbored quite a crush on Maka—"

"Eh?" Soul's head shot up, his stomach tightening: _Kid _had feelings for _Maka_?

* * *

><p>"If you didn't tell him soon, <em>I <em>was gonna 'swoop in for the kill,' if you know what I mean," Liz nudged Maka playfully, who laughed back uneasily. _Liz__ had feelings for __Soul__?_ She had no idea about it. She also had no idea why such a revelation made her want to reach over and slap the brown-haired beauty across the face.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, you beat me to it," Liz sighed in defeat as Maka fought back her sudden violent urges. She _didn't _beat Liz to it because this was all an act, meaning Liz technically still had a chance—a better chance than _she_ did. It wasn't Liz's fault that she was older, prettier, sexier, and far more artistically cultured than Maka could ever be to suit Soul's tastes—_goddammit, why do I care about what Soul's tastes are anyways?_

* * *

><p><em>What the hell does he see in Maka anyways? <em>Soul raged within as Kid continued to babble next to him. _All the freak ever cares about is symmetry! What, her __pigtails__ are perfectly symmetrical for him or something? Forget it, dude. Maka would never go for a nutcase like __you._ As they neared the cafeteria tables, Soul moved away from Kid and chose the spot next to Tsubaki instead while they waited for the Thompsons, Black Star, and Maka to join them. He couldn't help shooting a glare at the young Grim Reaper every now and then, aligning his sandwich halves, two cartons of milk and two apples in different patterns of symmetry before gingerly starting on his well-balanced lunch—_literally._

_She's too good for him…isn't she?_ The rhythmic drumming of his fingers on the table stopped abruptly. _Well he's…probably a better contender than __I'd__ ever be. I mean, if we weren't pretending to be together, there's…no reason Maka wouldn't..._ His fingers then began to tremble slightly, before curling into a fist. _Intelligent, clean cut, wealthy, well-read—dammit, he's right up Maka's alley! Why __shouldn't__ she want to be with a guy like him? Why don't they just hook up and get it over with? _

The answer came to him almost as soon as the question did: _Because __I'm__ Maka's boyfriend. _He loosened his white knuckles as a wide, sharp-toothed smile spread across his face. _That's right. As long as this little performance is going on, Maka's mine and he can't have her—and neither can any other guy for that matter. _Soul sat back in his seat, picking his teeth with a toothpick just as Liz and Patti entered the cafeteria chattering excitedly with a less enthusiastic Maka in tow. _His _Maka. Well, at least she was until a few weeks or so…when this whole charade would end. Then once it looked like they'd broken up, would Kid make his move then? Soul wasn't so sure…but worse than that, would Maka _accept?_

"Hey hon," came a soft greeting. Soul looked up to see Maka standing over him, wearing a small smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Hi pumpkin," Soul replied, standing to pull her into his arms. "You okay?" he whispered quietly enough for only her to hear, seeing the troubled look in her deep olive eyes.

Maka gazed up at him, then glanced over at Liz, flipping her long silky brown hair over her smooth bare shoulder, taking a moment to envy the way her glossed lips glistened and her mascara-tinged eyelashes fluttered before forcing back a smile at her false beau. "I'm fine. What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm cool," Soul shrugged casually, pulling out her chair for her. She took one last look at his eyes, which must have looked as troubled as hers, before sitting down with her tray. And Soul stole one last nasty glance at Kid, daintily wiping his mouth with a napkin, before throwing an arm around the back of Maka's chair and joining her.

* * *

><p>Over the next few weeks, adapting to being a couple turned out to be surprisingly easy for the initially reluctant pair. Sure, going on group dates with the others was strange; not to mention the awkwardness of watching that romantic comedy with the schmaltzy ending in the dark movie theater, but that was only one of few obstacles. Every time one of the girls looked their way, Soul was sure to give Maka a meaningless peck on the cheek, while his meister would occasionally be seen lovingly sporting one of his jackets or blazers. Even better than that was the simplicity of explaining their lack of affectionate display in public, in which Soul merely stated that "cool guys keep it private."<p>

Much to Soul and Maka's pleasure, Blair's prediction seemed to be coming true. Aside from their closest comrades, the student body was growing bored with the gossip surrounding the relationship of one of the Academy's top weapon-meister teams. Less and less people were giving Black Star a hard time about losing money on their bets while less and less girls were squealing with delight every time Soul or Maka laid a hand on eachother. If things kept going at this rate, the false liaison could end sooner than they anticipated.

The only problem was neither of them was making any effort to end it.

Every time Maka saw Liz chatting with Soul about some new jazz CD she bought, it only made her want to show her up with some new thing Soul had done for her or bought her, such as a romantic candlelit dinner at an expensive restaurant or a glittering new charm necklace. Of course these were lies and Soul was not doing anything of the sort. The jewelry she wore were things her father had bought her in begging for her forgiveness, thus they had never seen the light of day until now. Candlelit dinners and fancy trinkets had not been part of their plan, but Maka was becoming paranoid to the point where she was willing to say anything to keep Liz or any other one of Soul's admirers from sinking their fangs into him.

Similarly, Soul found that the base lie of having Maka as his girlfriend was branching out into several smaller white lies of things they were doing outside of school. This led to the fiasco of one day well into the third week of their charade, where Soul's exaggeration of his "activities" with Maka came to a head.

"Things seem to be going pretty good, huh?" Black Star prompted him one day once classes had ended.

"Yep, we had a sweet movie night last Friday," Soul answered, "Back-to-back features of _The Sketchbook_ and _A Stroll to Ponder_."

Black Star cringed vocally, "She picked the movies?"

"Hell yeah she did, you wouldn't catch me _dead_ picking out that chick shit," Soul chortled, while inwardly knowing that Maka's film tastes actually lay in psychological suspense—movies that made you _think, _so to speak.

"That all you guys've been doing?" Black Star snorted, chomping on a protein bar as they walked out onto one of the school rooftops. "Holding hands, movie nights, restaurants, kisses on the cheeks?"

"And all that jazz," Soul nodded, chugging down a water bottle as they both stared out at the rather breathtaking view Death City offered them from so high up. "You sound…underwhelmed. I told you about making out with her, I don't do that crap in public."

"No I get it dude, it's cool!" Black Star exclaimed, holding his hands up in defense. He took another huge bite of his bar before dropping the bombshell. "Have you done it yet?"

Soul froze, swallowing his latest gulp of water with immense difficulty. "Eh?"

"You and Maka," his egotistical friend clarified, facing him this time, "Have you guys done it yet?"

"Dude, none of your business," Soul mumbled, avoiding his gaze. _Shit, here it comes…_

"You didn't, did you?"

"I'm not telling you, it's not cool!"

"Oh my God, you _did!_"

"Shut up, man!"

"Holy shit, _when?_" Black Star leapt up, jumping up and down in front of Soul like a caffeinated child. "Tell the god Black Star when this blessed event occurred!"

"Dude, you're talking like she's pregnant," Soul grunted and Black Star's eyes widened.

"_Is _she—?"

"_No!_"

"Whose bed was it in, yours or hers?" Black Star continued to prod.

"Neither!"

"What's Maka hiding underneath all those layers she wears?"

"Black Star, quit assuming all this stuff!" Soul finally exploded, jumping up to face him dead on. "I never said I we did anything in the first place, much less _where_ we did it, so quit hounding me about it!"

"But you did do it, didn't you?" Black Star asked once more, stepping closer so they were standing nose to nose. "_Cool guy_?"

He'd hit the nerve, and now Soul had two choices jumbling around in his mind like the contents of a slot machine. The knowledge that he and Maka were both lying about the intimate factors of the relationship gave his subconscious the resolve to pull the lever of said machine. And the peer pressure staring him smack in the face in the form of a loud-mouthed, blue-haired prick that he somehow called his friend provided the result of his gamble.

"In the bathtub," he finally responded.

* * *

><p>"Soul!" Maka called out once Soul had descended the rooftop and walked back through the hallway. He turned to see her rushing up to him, her blonde pigtails whipping behind her in her haste as she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a corner so they wouldn't be overheard. "We need to talk."<p>

Soul stared at her for a minute then cleared his throat, "Uh Maka, before you start, let me remind you that we're _not actually dating_—"

"I know, I know, not 'we need to talk' as in 'I'm pissed at you,' rather as in 'we _actually_ need to talk about something,'" Maka explained, and Soul noticed she was shifting uncomfortably. "Remember when you said you would never spend crazy amounts of money on your girlfriend?"

"Yeah?"

"I've…kind of been telling everyone that you've been taking me out to expensive places," Maka said all in one breath, and Soul's eyes widened. "And you've been buying me jewelry," she added, pulling out a silver chain from under her shirt with a cursive letter _M _on it.

"Why?" Soul asked once he'd found his voice again.

"It's Liz, okay?" Maka burst out, burying her face in her hands. "She…she has feelings for you. Or _had _feelings for you or—I don't know, but I took it personally and I've been—_exaggerating_ the details of our relationship."

"So where have I been taking you exactly?" Soul asked bluntly, and Maka's head snapped up.

"You're…you're not mad at me?"

"Not completely, just really annoyed," Soul sighed deeply. "So…?"

"Well last weekend, you took me to hear the Death City Philharmonic—"

"Whoa, the _Philharmonic_?" Soul said in an impressed tone. "I treat you _nice_."

"Shut up," Maka mumbled ashamedly.

"Ya know, Liz would probably appreciate a night at the Philharmonic—"

"_Soul_! That's not _funny_!" Maka shouted, then quieted her tone and peeked her head around the corner to make sure their conversation was still private. "I'm sorry, okay, I really am."

"Well, thanks for being honest with me," Soul whispered. Suddenly his stomach tightened when he realized he wasn't exactly coming clean with _her_.

"What's wrong, Soul?"

"Uh…" He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Turns out Kid has feelings for you, too."

"He _does_?" Maka asked, her eyes widening as large as his had.

"And I've been trying to show _him_ up every chance I get, too."

Maka chuckled lightly, "Look what this one little lie's done to us; now we're sneaking around like criminals pretending we're something that we're clearly not and—"

"—telling our friends that we slept together, going to—"

"What did you just say?" Maka asked firmly. Soul mentally kicked himself before looking right into her flashing green eyes, the knuckles holding her books against her chest turning white.

"As long as we're being honest," he began with a deep breath. "I told Black Star…"

"_Yes?_"

"I told Black Star we had sex."

And for the first time in three weeks, the spine of a dense hardcover book crushed through his skull painfully.

* * *

><p>AN: So, how is this all going to turn out? Stay tuned for the final part!

Please review on your way out!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Here it is! Sorry it took a little longer, Memorial Day weekend plus Colossalcon weekend equaled delays. Hope you all enjoy the conclusion and thanks so much for all the reviews and feedback along the way :)

* * *

><p>It was several moments before stars stopped appearing in his line of vision and Soul had regained enough consciousness to get up from the floor. Maka still had not said a word, which gave her weapon a little time to prepare himself mentally <em>and <em>physically for the explosion that was certain to come.

"You told Black Star…we had _sex?_" Maka repeated very slowly—and very tensely.

"In the bathtub, yes," Soul said, and Maka seriously looked like she was about to vomit. "He was pressing me about it 'cause—I guess he thought we were moving too slow, and—"

"You told…_Black Star_…we had sex in the bathtub?" Maka finally shouted. "_God_ Soul, why didn't you just get on the PA and announce it to the_ entire school?_"

"Maka—Maka, listen," Soul pleaded as she started to stalk away from him, and he jogged to keep up. "To be fair, we never really cleared up our sexual relations when we were setting this whole thing up."

"You asked me 'What about having sex?'" Maka stated bluntly, still not looking at him, "and I said 'What do you _think?_'"

"I…assumed that meant it was okay," Soul said tentatively, and Maka roared with frustration.

"I thought that was pretty clear that _no_, I am not cool with casual sex!" Maka yelled loud enough for a few standbys to hear, and Soul shushed her hastily and pulled her into an empty classroom. "And I honestly thought _you _were cool enough to respect that I felt that way."

"I didn't—I—you—you never said anything to me about it!" Soul spluttered, his volume finally reaching Maka's as he pushed the door to the room shut.

"Soul, do I _honestly _look or act like the type of girl who sleeps with guys on a whim?" Maka asked in a low, trembling voice. If it were possible for Soul to feel any worse than he already did, it was at that moment.

"No Maka, you don't," he answered. "And if it makes you feel better, I'm not like that either. Black Star made a jab at me and I said it to get him off my back. But that's not an excuse, and nothing about it was cool. I'm sorry Maka…can you forgive me?"

"No Soul, I can't," Maka responded, and Soul felt like a shard of glass had pierced his heart. "I—I have a reputation to keep up! And a two-star meister who has sex with her Death Scythe in the _bathtub_ is not gonna look good on _any _permanent record!"

"I'll tell them I lied—which is the truth, I _did _lie," Soul said softly, moving closer to her as she fretted. "I'll fix this, your reputation's going to be fine."

"It's not just that, Soul, it's—" Maka opened her mouth and closed it several times before squeezing her eyes shut and throwing her head back in frustration, groaning out loud. "Forget it, I'm done with this."

"Done with what?"

"Pretending to be your girlfriend, I can't do this anymore," Maka said sadly. "I had a feeling it would escalate to this point and at least one of us was going to get hurt."

"Maka, I swear I didn't mean to hurt you," Soul whispered, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her eyes affectionately, but she shook her head.

"I know you didn't," Maka said quietly. "I just think we need to stop before it gets any worse. We've been lying to our friends for almost a month, and I feel terrible about it. We've…we've been lying to _eachother_, Soul."

"Maka…" Soul paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Fixating his gaze on her, he took a few steps even closer and brought his hand up to her face, letting it rest on her cheek.

"S-Soul?" Maka inquired timidly. "There's no one around, you—you don't have to—"

"Maka," he repeated, and his meister fell silent. "If there's one thing I haven't done to you these past three weeks, it's _lie_."

"You've been making everyone believe that I'm your girlfriend," Maka explained. "You've been going on dates with me, holding me, kissing me, telling me how much you care for me—" The answer swooped down and claimed her before Soul even smiled and nodded. "Oh my God, Soul…you…you really—"

Her stammering lips were cut off suddenly by the soft, warm lips of her devoted weapon, pressing her body close to his for only a few moments. He let her go and she stumbled backwards, grabbing the wall for support.

"Guess I just needed a shove in the right direction," Soul said softly. Maka wasn't staring at him, however, but rather at a point over his shoulder. Soul turned slowly and saw Kid, Liz, and Patti all peering at them through the window on the door of the classroom. Liz hastily shoved the others away once Soul spotted them and the trio rushed out of sight. "Shit!"

"Soul," Maka began, gathering up her books and heading for the door. "You—you just go fix everything with Black Star and I'll meet you back home."

"Maka—" He made to grab for her hand and she jerked away.

"I said I'll meet you back home!" she cried out, and Soul noticed her hands were trembling. "Please, just leave me alone!" She pushed past him and wrenched open the door, dashing out into the nearly deserted hallway.

"_Fuck _it all!" Soul burst out, kicking the door frame so hard some paint chipped off. _What were you thinking, Evans…what the __fuck__ were you thinking?_

* * *

><p>"Hey Soul," Blair purred as Soul entered the apartment a few hours later. "What were <em>you<em> doing at school so late?"

"Had some things to take care of," Soul grumbled, jerking down the sleeves of his jacket to hide the bruises he got. Forcefully demanding Black Star that he keep his yap shut about something that didn't even happen was probably not the best approach, as Soul quickly found out. The two had ended up in a tussle that Tsubaki managed to break up before anyone got too damaged—but on the bright side Soul had gotten the shadow weapon's word that Black Star would forget everything Soul had said about sex in the bathtub with Maka. He still had a couple of battle scars left over, but the more important wound he needed to address was the one this entire ordeal had left on his meister. "Where's Maka?"

"In her room, she hasn't come out since she got home," Blair said, jerking her head towards the door as she stood in front of the mirror primping herself for her shift at Chupa Cabra's, "Must have a lot of homework."

"No, she's pissed at me," Soul exhaled hard through his nose and leaned his back against the wall in frustration. "This whole 'pretending to be a couple' thing's put us on edge."

"Oh, well look on the bright side," Blair said soothingly. "The news has died down and now everything between you guys can go back to the way it was!"

"Yep, it sure can," Soul said with forced enthusiasm, pushing himself away from the wall and heading for the kitchen. Blair, noticing the false zeal in his tone, followed him into the kitchen where she found him staring aimlessly at the inside of the fridge, his hand on the door handle.

"Soul…is something the matter?" Blair asked quietly.

"I kissed her today," Soul said in an emotionless tone.

"You've been kissing her for three weeks, silly," Blair giggled.

"No, I mean I _really _kissed her," Soul explained with more vigor, turning to stare at Blair's softly astonished expression. "And I liked it. I…I loved it so much, I wanted to do it again—but she flipped out and took off on me before I could explain myself."

"Oh God, Soul, you _love_ her," Blair breathed, smiling with her hands clasped over her chest. "I knew it—I just knew it from the moment I moved in with you two it was going to happen sooner or later!"

"I don't know about this love crap, Blair, I—I don't know what being in love with someone feels like," Soul mumbled honestly, staring down at his shoes while blushing slightly. "All I know is that…I want Maka to be happy. I want her to smile and laugh and be the best person she can possibly be, no matter what it takes for her to feel that way. If she wanted me to leave and never come back in order for that to happen, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It would hurt…it would hurt me so bad…but I'd still do it for her."

Blair's smile grew wider as she shook her head, "You know, most people in real relationships never get that. They never understand that for once, they have to put someone else's happiness before their own, and I have been with and dumped _so _many guys who just—didn't care. They were selfish pigs who didn't give a crap about what happened to me, just as long as _I _made _them _happy. You and Maka, you're—you're not even in a relationship like that, and you're already so far ahead of people who are. I watch the two of you all the time and not only do you trust and believe so strongly in eachother, but—but you would sacrifice anything and everything for eachother. Sure you guys fight a lot, who doesn't? And sure, you might hurt eachother along the way, but it will only help you grow stronger. And it doesn't take away from what's already there." She blinked rapidly and sniffled, "Oh great, now I'm tearing up…and I gotta go to work, too."

"Here," Soul offered, handing her a tissue from the box on the counter "Can't knock 'em dead with your mascara running."

"Thanks Soul, you're the sweetest," Blair meowed, dabbing at her lids gently before sniffing loudly and grabbing her purse. "I'll be back late, so you guys don't wait up."

"Don't worry, we won't," Soul sighed, for some reason feeling more exhausted now than he did after he'd finished pummeling Black Star.

"And Soul?" Blair added, poking her head back into the room. "That was a really lovely and honest thing you said…I'm sure there's someone else in this apartment who'd love to hear it, too."

Once Blair had left, Soul flopped down on the couch with ten million thoughts still milling about his brain—and a bedroom door that still refused to open. A few hours passed as Soul helped himself to a frozen dinner and a quart of ice cream while flicking the channels, but still Maka never came out. Even if she did, what the hell was he going to say? "Sorry I kissed you"? He wasn't sorry he kissed her; if there were any moment in his life that he would ever want to relive, it would be _that kiss_. The fact that it _wasn't _part of their act, the fact that it was real, sincere and genuine, that was what was so incredible about it. And the best part of all was he had _meant _it.

_So what the hell am I doing sitting here just __thinking__ about it? _ Soul thought, flicking off the TV as he heard a low rumble of thunder outside. Taking the initiative, he went around and shut all the windows so the approaching thunderstorm wouldn't dampen anything inside the apartment. It was 10:30 now, and Soul was pretty sure Maka was asleep when he approached her door. He tried the handle and found it was still locked, no light coming from beneath her bedroom door.

"Maka?" he said softly through the door. "You asleep?" No response. "Well on second thought, I think it's better if you _are _asleep. I um, I straightened out everything with Black Star. And I'm really sorry about the sex thing—again." He took a deep breath, dropping his voice to an even softer tone, barely above a whisper. "Maka, I wanna—explain about that kiss. The one you freaked out over. I wasn't just doing it as part of our act. I wasn't just doing it 'cause Kid and Liz were watching and I wanted to make them jealous. I've been holding back that kiss for a long time, I've—I've been holding back a lot of things from you for a long time. And if you were awake, you'd probably run away from me again right about now."

He half expected the door to open and Maka to sprint out of it towards the door to the hallway, but it remained closed. Now positive that Maka was sleeping, Soul went on a bit more loudly, "You know all that crap they say, that when you kiss the person you love for the first time you see fireworks and your heart goes crazy and you know that they're the one? Well I didn't see any fireworks, Maka, but—but I felt something. It was your soul, Maka. I could completely sense it once my lips touched yours. It was scared at first, it was trembling as I reached out to it, but right before I pulled away it reached back out for me. It wasn't so forceful, like when we resonate in combat, it was…natural. It was real and open and warm and I didn't want that feeling to go away." He touched the door gently with his hand, as if he could reach her somehow that way, leaning his head against it with his eyes closed. "I love your soul, Maka—I love how it fills me up when I connect with you, even though it's so small. I love how even in the very beginning, I've always felt safe when you wielded me as your demon scythe, and I still do. I love how you slaughtered every expectation I had about you when we moved in together and became partners—how kind and funny and compassionate you are, how you don't take crap from people like Black Star and how focused you are in achieving what you want. And as much as I hate to admit it, you've totally rubbed off on me. I actually studied for that test because I knew how important it would be to you if I did well." He swallowed hard as thunder and flashes of lightning began to fill the night. "I don't want to fail you, Maka. I don't want you to fall because of some stupid thing I do or say, and I want to be someone that you can always trust—no matter how you feel about other men. I…I don't want this whole charade to tear us apart. Blair said we can go back to the way things were now, but…I don't want to go back to the way things were." There was a tremor in his voice now, and Soul knew he needed to stop before he showed way more emotion than he wanted to. "Anyways, sorry I bugged you with all that crap. Goodnight, Maka."

* * *

><p>On the other side of the door, Maka slid down to her knees clutching a pillow tightly against her chest as she listened to Soul walk away. The only other sounds now were the thunder rumbling outside, the rain pattering against the window, and her own heart pounding in her ears. She had been both terrified and aching for this to happen—that someday Soul would open up to her, showing her his true feelings and emotions no matter how uncool they were for him to admit to. The fact that a large part of that was due to her coming into his life, the fact that she had truly had such an impact on him was almost too much for her to bear. Keeping her face buried in the pillow so Soul couldn't hear her, Maka allowed her tears to soak the linen sheet while gulping back several racking sobs.<p>

_Soul…I'm sorry…_She raised her head, letting a few tears roll down her cheeks as her breath hitched. _If I had known for sure that…you really felt that way, I wouldn't have—_Without another thought, she flung her pillow back on the bed and jumped up from the floor. Praying Soul hadn't gone to bed yet, she slowly opened her door and tiptoed out into the hallway. Rounding the corner to the living area, she found him sitting on the sofa with his back to her, watching the storm rage outside their window. Approaching him slowly from behind, Maka shyly clasped her hands behind her back.

"I love your soul, too."

Soul nearly had a heart attack as he jumped and whirled around to find his meister standing there in her slightly revealing summer pajamas, her silky blonde hair loose. A flash of lightning lit up her face, and Soul could see the glistening tear streaks on her cheeks. "How much did you hear?"

"A-all of it," Maka choked out, furiously brushing away the tears that had decided to make another appearance at seeing Soul gazing back at her. To her surprise, he held out his hand for her and smiled.

"You wanna watch the storm with me?"

Maka shrugged, accepting his hand by lacing her fingers through his as she sat down at the other end of the couch. She wasn't sure why she and Soul enjoyed watching storms together; she guessed it was a nice change watching them instead of fighting Kishin eggs in them, which they had done on various occasions. Tonight, however, it felt different. It almost felt as if the storm stood for something—the wild ride they had gone through these past three weeks, ultimately feeling cold and lost and wondering if things would ever settle down again. And for some odd reason, Maka had an inkling that _this _storm wasn't going to end until she herself felt settled. "Soul, I'm sorry I yelled at you about the sex thing."

"You had every right to," Soul answered, strengthening his hold on her hand a bit more, "It wasn't cool."

"No Soul, there's a reason I reacted that way," Maka shook her head.

"Because you're a prissy, conservative bookworm?" Soul suggested teasingly.

Maka didn't laugh, only stared down at their joined hands. "It's something I've never told anyone before…it's kind of hard for me."

"You're…you're _not _a virgin?"

"Yes I'm a virgin, Soul!" Maka yelled out, sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Sorry! I just—I don't know, I thought you meant you've been raped or something," Soul said seriously.

"No, I haven't been raped," Maka answered. "I was an accident."

"An—an accident, _what_?"

"I was a—_shock. _To my parents," Maka answered slowly. "They got together when they were sixteen because they were partners and they felt like they had to, I doubt they even really loved eachother like that. From what Mama told me, it sounds like it was just an excuse for them to sleep around whenever. Papa especially never treated sex like a special connection between a man and a woman—or five or six women," she added bitterly through clenched teeth. "He would come home drunk, begging for Mama's forgiveness with make-up sex, and after a while they stopped using protection. I bet the _only _reason Papa even married her was because he wanted to prove that he was loyal—that he wouldn't abandon her because he'd accidently gotten her pregnant. So there you go, that's how I came into this world—in a drunken teenaged haze between two people who didn't know better."

"That why you always feel like you gotta _prove _something all the time?" Soul asked after a slight pause.

Maka thought this over for a few moments, then nodded tightly, "Yeah, I guess so. I want to prove to myself more than anything that I'm better than that. That's why I—wanna get straight A's and—be the best demon scythe meister I can possibly be, and—when I do have sex for the first time, I want it to be with someone that I love and care for and can completely trust."

"You already are better than that, Maka," Soul said softly, turning towards her. "You don't need to prove anything to anyone, even yourself." His other arm came up and wrapped gently around her waist, pulling her closer. "And I'm glad you feel the same way I do—about sex."

Maka felt the heat of a blush rise into her cheeks as she found herself in this close proximity with her weapon, yet still she felt a warm sense of safety and contentment nonetheless. "Soul…I'm almost sixteen, you're seventeen. I don't want us to get together because we feel like we have to—because we're partners, and _especially _not because everyone _thinks _we should. I want it to be because we…we really feel that way about eachother and…we want to take that next step."

Soul thought it over for a moment, watching the thunder and lightning die down, replaced with a steady lurid rain. "So you wanna know how I _really _feel then?"

"Yes," Maka answered. "I wanna know that we can do this."

Soul shrugged. "I love you."

Maka blinked, "That's it? No thinking it over or—?"

"I don't need to think it over," Soul said. "It's a fact. I—I love you. As my best friend, and possibly even more than that. And I think we know that between the two of us, we can do whatever the hell we want to. Just…waiting for my meister to give me the go-ahead."

Maka smiled fondly back at him, stroking her fingers through his soft white hair. "I…I love you, too."

"Do you wanna take this a little slower this time around?" Soul asked, backing out of her personal space a bit.

Maka nodded, "Let's start over."

"Maka, will you be my girlfriend?" Soul inquired with an air of mock formality, kissing the back of her hand with a flourish.

"On one condition: don't _ever _call me 'pumpkin' again," Maka rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Deal," Soul grinned as the both of them leaned in for their first _real _lingering kiss…

* * *

><p>One of the last things Maka ever expected to happen all of a sudden was falling asleep in Soul's arms. But it was inevitable that this was what had occurred when she awoke Saturday morning, realized she was on the living room couch, leaning against Soul's chest while her still snoozing weapon snored with his head leaned back. The absolute <em>last <em>thing Maka expected was to smell eggs cooking and hear bacon sizzling in the kitchen. She knew perfectly well that the only two cooks in this apartment were sitting on that very couch, for Blair was a champion food burner. _So who could possibly be…?_

"Soul," Maka whispered, shaking his shoulder gently, "Soul, wake up."

"Mmm…" Soul stirred, yawning widely and wiping a trail of drool from the corner of his mouth, "Where am I?"

"We're in the living room," Maka replied, sitting up from his chest. "I…think we fell asleep here last night."

"Oh yeah, _now _I remember," Soul said with a small smile. "I kissed you, right?"

"Yeah Soul, you did," Maka smiled as she remembered the wonderful sensation of his lips on hers, their souls in complete resonance with eachother as they synced in perfect harmony—she had never felt anything like that in her life. But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that with a mysterious person in their kitchen. "Uh—Soul, do you smell that?"

"Yeah, smells great," Soul sighed, stretching his arms high over his head. "Whatcha making, bacon?"

"I'm not making it, Soul—_someone's in the kitchen_," Maka's voice dropped to an intense whisper and Soul's face suddenly hardened.

"Hang on, I'll go check," he said, shifting his arm into scythe mode and getting up carefully from the couch just as the door to the kitchen swung open.

"Oh good, you're both awake!" came a cheerful voice just as Tsubaki came into view, carrying a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon. "Let me know if you want anything else."

"Tsubaki, what are you doing here?" Maka cried out, jumping up from the couch and straightening out her pajamas twisted around her body.

"Blair let us in," Tsubaki answered, just as Kid and the girls entered carrying paper plates and plastic silverware to the coffee table. "Black Star, you got the orange juice?"

"Yep, comin' right up!" came an unpleasantly loud call as Black Star sailed into view, slopping orange juice over the sides of eight glasses on a tray. "So…why are we all here again?"

"Oddly enough, that's what _we'd _like to know," Soul asked in dry sarcasm, his jaw still hanging open.

"We're merely celebrating that two of our best friends are happy together," Kid answered, putting the glasses into equal rows of four. "Shall we have a toast?"

"Great idea!" came a final chipper voice as Blair shifted from cat to human form, raising her glass of orange juice. "To Soul and Maka!"

"_Soul and—!"_

"Wait, Blair stop!" Maka called out, halting everyone's voices at once, their glasses aloft. Stealing a quick glance with Soul, who nodded slightly, Maka took a deep breath. "Guys, we have something to tell you—it's about these past few weeks. You see, up until last night…"

"You'd been pretending to be in love," Kid finished.

"It was a dumb idea that we—" Maka stopped and whipped her head around to stare at Kid's sly smile, identical with everyone else's in the room. "You…_you knew_?"

"You all knew we were faking it the whole time?" Soul shouted.

"Well, all of us except—"

"_They were faking it the whole time?_"

"—Black Star," Tsubaki finished, "He can't keep a secret to save his life, so we had to leave him out."

"How dare you? I am Black Star, the greatest of all gods—!"

"When did you find out?" Maka asked timidly as Tsubaki slapped a hand over her noisy meister's mouth.

"My Lord Death, it was _so obvious_," Kid chuckled.

"You guys might kick ass at collecting souls," Liz shook her head, "but you two have got to be the worst actors in history." Patti added by laughing maniacally, while Soul and Maka hung their heads dejectedly.

"It's a long story," Tsubaki began, "but it started about a month ago. I got an anonymous bet for Black Star's wages with a plan written on a piece of paper: If you two were convinced to _pretend_ to be a couple, and eventually _became_ a couple in spite of this, the bet would go to the nameless gambler. Late last night, I got a call that the plan had gone off perfectly, and the better turned out to be none other than—"

"_Blair_," Soul and Maka snarled together, their eyes snaking over to the kitchen doorway, where the sly cat stood with a grin.

"Yay!" Blair squealed. "I win, I _win!_"

"Oh dear, Father's not going to be very pleased about that," Kid hid a smile behind his hand as Black Star begrudgingly handed over her wages.

"So she set us up this entire time," Soul grumbled, slouching on the couch with his arms crossed tightly in front of him.

"Uh…Soul?" Blair asked slowly.

"What the hell do you want, you damn cat?" Soul exploded as Maka shushed him calmly.

"I always knew you guys cared about eachother, so I thought if I asked you to do this it would give you two a shove in the right direction," Blair explained, Soul's expression softening as he heard the words he'd spoken the day before echoed back to him. "I wasn't doing it for the money."

"Neither were any of us," Liz said with a grin. "But…we are really sorry it looked like we did."

"It's alright," Maka whispered. "I got something a lot more valuable out of this anyway."

Linking hands with Soul again, they finished their breakfast with everyone else and made plans for a night downtown that evening before their guests left early in the afternoon. After cleaning up the living room, Blair yawned saying she needed a nap—when in reality she just wanted to give Soul and Maka some more alone time. Maka went to her room to change into a light summer dress and met Soul back on the couch, where he was flicking the channels again in a bored fashion. Once she sat down, Soul muted the commercial before leaning over and kissing her deeply again.

"Mmm…what was that for?" Maka asked with a smile.

"I know I said I wasn't gonna buy you anything as your boyfriend," Soul began. "But I felt really bad last night, so I stopped by the bookstore after I beat the shit out of Black Star." He handed her a gift wrapped package, which Maka tore into eagerly. Her smile widened—it was the concluding novel of her favorite mystery series.

"Soul, thank you so much!" she exclaimed, hugging him tight around the neck. "Ugh, the last one ended on such a cliffhanger, I _have _to know what happens next!"

"I'll leave you to it then—just don't forget about our plans tonight."

"I won't," Maka promised, curling up on the couch with the book in her lap while Soul turned off the TV and headed into his room to fiddle with his guitar for a few hours.

This was who they were: Maka had her books and Soul had his music, no matter how much he tried to hide it. It was the differences between them that made them compatible, stronger, creating that unspoken bond between them. As much as their closest friends had meant well, this was something that they could never understand—something that Soul and Maka themselves could hardly put into words. Things would go much slower this time, their bond would be tested in these new uncharted waters, and ultimately it would be months and months before they were ready to have that special night—and _not _in a bathtub.

Soul belonged to Maka, and Maka belonged to Soul. It was that simple—and there was no price that could be placed on that.

* * *

><p>AN: Please review on the way out :)


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